Chance Meeting
by Katia3
Summary: A sequel (work in progress) to the movie. It starts with Wolverine going to the Alkali Lake Base. There he has a run in with a girl on the run, what he doesn't know is that this girl has a secret, one tied to him and in more ways then one. Any follow up c
1. Chance Meeting

As much as I would love to take credit for Wolverine and the location of the setting, I cannot. The only character that is MINE is Catalyst. The rest belong to Marvel, so don't sue me! ::Grins::  
  
Wolverine slowed to a stop on the side of the Canadian back-road as he put a foot down on the slightly snowy ground as the light flakes began to fall once more. He pulled out a map from his duffel bag on the back of the bike and stood, looking it over. He fought the urge to light a cigar, not wanting to leave much of a trail of himself for anyone around. He looked the map over, guessing his relative location; mostly going on instinct at the moment, like he normally did, as he guessed the compound on Alkali Lake was only about two or 3 miles from where he was. He shoved the map back into his bag and pulled back onto the road as he continued on.  
After a few minutes, he noticed the very faint turn off, buried under snow and hidden by trees. It was a well-hidden road, and was unnoticeable if you weren't looking for it, like he was. He pulled onto the turn and pulled over to the side of the road. He hopped off the bike, glancing around. "Better walk from here," he said to himself. From what Chuck had said, the base had been abandoned, but it was better not to take the chance.   
He started walking down the road, towards the compound and the lake, as he stayed alert, sniffing the air every few moments as he walked. He froze when he thought he heard something hitting the brush off to his left. His eyes scanned the area as he sniffed the air once more, faintly picking up something familiar, but so faint that even he couldn't place it.   
When he didn't see anything move, or hear anything else, he continued on and finally came to the site of the base. The fence had been torn down from what he could see, aside from a few stubborn places where the support poles were. He scanned the area, seeing a few remaining buildings, which were charred, a bit of burned furniture, weathered over time and a few pieces of glass or wires here and there.   
He froze once more as he heard the sound again and then the faint buzz of a vehicle in the distance. From the sound if it, it was moving fast. He backed towards one of the actually standing buildings, ducking into the doorway as he watched, his claws pressing to be released. He sniffed the air, picking up the scent again, much stronger this time. He turned to peer into the dark hallway of the main room of the building, which appeared to be a reception-type area. His eyes adjusted quickly as he scanned the hall, finally spotting a pile of clothing in an arrangement that appeared to be a bed. He narrowed his eyes as he walked into the hall a bit farther, the sound of the vehicle still fairly far from his location. He approached the pile, poking through it a bit, the scent very fresh and covering it all. He also noticed a few piles of MREs, or meals ready to eat, and a few wrappers here and there.   
It was obvious that someone was currently, or had been there recently. He sniffed the air and spun quickly as he heard a soft shuffling outside the door once more. He left the hallway, wondering who's "bed" he had found, and if they knew much about the place that they were staying at. He went back out into the slightly cold breeze, knowing it was about noon from where the sun was. He looked around, on alert once more, as the buzzing became almost annoyingly insistent.   
Suddenly a blur of green army fatigues shot out of the trees and past him in a hurry, almost running into him. He jumped back, popping his claws out, out of instinct. From what he could see as the person ran, it appeared to be a girl, about 16 years old with long reddish-brown hair. She wore the standard army fatigues and knee-high combat boots, as well as... dogtags. His eyes went faintly wide at the tags, which looked very much like his own.   
He watched the girl as she froze, realizing that she had almost run into someone as she turned around to face him, only a few yards from him. Her face was set as stone, like many soldiers' faces were, but her eyes flashed wildly in fear. She was breathing hard and shivering a bit as she took a few steps back, "Who-who are you? Why can't you guys leave me alone!?" She backed away, towards the frozen-over lake as he took a slight step towards her, "Relax kid, I ain't gonna hurt ya... who won't leave ya alone?" She narrowed her eyes, backing away more, this time onto the ice, as she seemed to tune into the buzzing a bit, which was coming increasingly closer, "Stay away from me! If ya found this place you should know who I'm talkin' about."   
Logan's face was equally as determined as hers as he took a few more steps towards her, "Come on off the ice, before ya fall in... I don't know who's after ya, but you can trust me." He felt the word trust roll off his tongue oddly, knowing that if he were in her position, he wouldn't trust a gruff looking guy barking orders. The girl shook her head, "I don't need you telling me how to keep saf-" She gasped and tried to scream as she stepped on a patch of thin ice and fell strait through, right into the lake. She struggled to keep her head above the freezing water as she gasped through the pain for air, trying to grab something above the ice, her hands only hitting smooth ice and snow.   
Logan jumped, running to the edge of the ice, but didn't go farther, knowing that he weighed more then her and if he went on the ice, they'd both be in her position, "Come on kid, pull yerself out!" He looked around for anything to help her up when he heard the buzz turn into the roar of an engine as a jeep came barreling through the trees and came to a halt in the clearing in front of the compound. He saw six men climb out of the large jeep, a few going into the building, coming out carrying the girls stuff, the others coming to the lakes edge, having spotted her in the water. They ignored him for a few minutes, conversing amongst themselves before turning to him.   
The one apparently in charge of the whole group came right up to him, into his face, speaking as though he owned Canada, "Who are you? Are you aware that you're on government property and face persecution for trespassing?" One of the smaller men started to venture out onto the ice in pursuit of the quickly tiring girl. "Hey, I don't see yer name on it, bub," Logan said, looking at the man, who was more or less his height. He just glared at him as the man turned, then whipped back around to face him once more, holding a 37-Glock in his face, "Get outta here, before there's nothing left of you to leave." The man, obviously full of himself, thought that the threat would easily get rid of Logan. But this just set him off, when he was waiting for a reason to go off anyway.   
He popped all six of his adamantium claws and in one quick swipe, sliced the gun cleanly in two. He then held the claws to the mans face, "I said no, bub, and I'm not leavin' till I get the answers I came for. Got it?" The man, having obviously wet himself in fear of Wolverine simply backed away, nodding. Logan smirked but then called out slightly when he felt a sharp pain hit him, a few inches in from his left shoulder. He looked at his shirt and saw a bit of blood. He turned his head slightly, seeing that one of the other men was holding his gun on him, "Back away from him and put your hands on your head! NOW!"   
Logan growled slightly, getting ready to attack the man when he heard a slight scream, which was muffled quickly. He looked back out on the lake, where the girl had fallen in and saw as the man, who looked small easily hauled her out of the water and then proceeded to handcuff her. Then the man took an electric-shock stick, obviously being stupid enough not to know what happens when electricity hits water, and raised it above the girl, ready to strike her with it as she struggled to get out of his grip.   
Logan gave the man that shot him a "I'll be getting to you next" look and he took off onto the ice, hoping not to fall in. He caught the man's arm as the stick almost reached the girl and shoved it back into the man's face, then pushed him into the water, almost instantly killing him. The girl squirmed backwards away from him a bit as he grabbed her shoulder firmly, but not rough enough to hurt her. She gasped, yanking away from him as more soldiers prepared to come after them, raising their weapons, and ordering them back to the mainland. Logan grabbed the dripping, half-frozen girl once more, a bit harder and used one of his claws to cut the handcuffs from her.   
She looked at him, obviously surprised by this as he looked at her, speaking lowly, "Get inside." She narrowed her eyes, finally getting to her feet as she looked at him once more, as he jerked his head towards the building, and she took off running off the ice for it. The moment she took off so did he, partially in case the ice broke as he correctly predicted it would and to distract the soldiers.   
Two soldiers went after her, grabbing one arm per each of them as they yanked her backwards. Logan was followed by the remaining three soldiers, including the one that shot at him and the one in charge. He watched, momentarily thinking that she had been caught, but then was almost shocked to see her jump off the ground in a backflip, even in the grip of the two soldiers. As she came back down, a boot landed on each of their heads, pushing it violently to the side, hard enough to snap both their necks.   
Logan's jaw almost dropped when he saw this, but then he came back to reality quickly when he saw the three coming after him. The one in charge whispered something to the other soldier, not the one that had shot at him and the soldier looked at him, a bit pale, then took off running after the girl who had disappeared into the dark building.   
He turned quickly to face the two men after him now as he reached the brick wall of one of the buildings, blocking his way. He stood his ground where he was, popping out both sets of claws as the two advanced. The soldier that had shot him raised his gun again as Logan growled a bit towards him and ran at him, jump kicking the hand that held the gun, easily disarming the man. He then slashed with one set of his claws at the man, getting a slice into his chest before stabbing him in the gut. He pulled the man to him for a moment as blood started filling his mouth and spoke to him, "Don't ever try ta shoot me."   
He dropped the man who quickly bled to death from his wound and turned to face the one that had been in charge. The man was gone. Logan sniffed the air and stepped away from the wall a bit as he looked around, only to feel something ram into him from behind and a slicing pain go across his chest and sides. He looked over his shoulder a bit as he tried to flip the guy off of him as he saw the soldier. The man was trying to slice him up with a small combat knife, if it was really worth even calling it that. Logan turned and slammed his back into the brickwall with all his weight, knocking the unprepared man from him. The man gasped for air, having had the wind knocked out of him, and maybe a few ribs broken.   
Logan raised one of his sets of claws, the animal side of him having had set it, screaming for him to finish the kill but froze when he heard a firm female voice order, "Stop!" He glanced over his shoulder, growling a bit, but stopped when he saw that it was the girl. Her hands and lower arms were covered in blood he saw as she stepped over to where they were. She looked down at the man buckled over on the snowy ground and kneeled, grabbing him by the collar as she pulled him to his feet and slammed him into the wall, "If you ever come after me AGAIN, after last time and now this, I will personally rip you open from nose to nuts. Now go back to the lab and tell that damn doctor that if he wants me back he comes himself, instead of sending his cronies who got a half-ass training!" She dropped him after a moment then backed away, going to the jeep as she pulled out the bag that had been hastily shoved full of her things and pulled out a towel, wiping the blood off as she watched the soldier get up and climbed into the jeep.   
He took off very quickly in the direction that he had come, the buzzing fading very quickly this time. Logan watched the girl as she proceeded to pull out a clean pair of fatigues and boots and went into the trees, coming back in dry clothing as she shoved the wet ones into her bag. She cleaned the blood off as best she could and put the towel back too, finally looking up at him. "You ok? Looks like you got hurt there," she said, nodding to the bloody slashes in his shirt.   
He blinked and looked down at the slashes, knowing that they had healed already and nodded, "Uh yeah, I'm fine... you alright kid?"   
She stood, tossing a fatigue shirt at him, "Oh yeah, really hard to hurt me actually." He narrowed his eyes at that, but didn't press as he caught the shirt, quickly pulling off the slashed one and pulled it on, putting his jacket back over it.   
"Looks like you're hard to hurt too... considering you were stabbed and shot and don't even have a mark," the girl commented as she walked over to him, taking the torn up shirt then held out her faintly tinted red hand, "I'm Catalyst." He looked at her and after a moment shook her hand, "Logan." The girl smiled faintly and nodded, her eyes appearing to flash slightly, though it could have been the lighting, "Well, nice ta meet ya Logan, thanks for your help... wanna go get something to eat?"  



	2. Chance Meeting

Chapter 2  
  
After the drive back to the town that Logan was staying in, with his new "guest", he pulled up in front of the local Bar & Grill. He hopped off and put the kickstand down and she followed. She pulled her long, still damp hair back into a ponytail, not looking too much like she just got pulled out of a lake. She looked at him and smiled slightly at where they were, "These places are always fun." He nodded and walked to the door with her and opened it as she walked in first, followed by him.   
They looked around and he nudged her lightly to one of the open booths, "I'll be there in a minute kid, just gotta make a phone call." She made a slight face at being called kid again and headed for the table, plopping into one of the seats as she looked around at the people. "Not too many drunks right now... what a shame," She said to herself with a smirk as she tucked her dogtags into her shirt.   
Logan approached the payphone, slipping a couple coins into the slot and dialed up the number for the mansion. "Hello?" Logan could hear the Boy Scout-type voice of Scott. "Put the professor on one-eye," he said gruffly. "Oh, it's you Logan... Hey, I'd better get my motorcycle back in one piec-" There was a sigh on Scott's end as something cut him off as the phone was given to Xavier, "Hello Logan, how is your trip going?"   
Logan glanced around, kinda liking to hear Chuck's voice again, "Trip's goin' alright... had a set back at the compound though."   
"What kind of set back, if you don't mind my asking?" Xavier responded.   
Logan took a slight breath, remembering the days events, "A kid was stayin' there from what it looked like, and a little after I got there, she was followed by a bunch of soldiers who attacked us. I got the kid with me now... there's something familiar about her."  
There was a pause before Xavier spoke; most likely, he was thinking it over, "Are any of the soldiers still alive? And what exactly about the girl is familiar? Did you have time to look around?"   
Logan glanced over at the girl who sat quietly, looking around, "I don't think any of the soldiers that were there were left, except for one that she sent back with a message to whoever sent them after her. The girl can fight; I'll give her that. She just acts familiar; her scent's familiar too. I didn't have any time to look around much, but the kid is wearin' a dogtag like mine... I'm wondering if she knows anything."   
"That may very well be a possibility. When do you think you will be coming back?" Xavier responded.  
"I'll probably be back in a day or two... I'm pretty much done here, and I dunno what kinda surveillance they'll have over the compound now, so I don't think I'll be heading back any time soon," Logan said, looking back to the phone, knowing he didn't have much time left on it.  
"Alright, that sounds good. You'll be bringing the girl back with you I assume...?" Xavier responded after a moment.   
"Yea', probably a good idea with those guys after her. I dunno, maybe I'm going soft, but there's something about her," Logan said as he looked back to the girl. "Well, I gotta go, almost outta time. I'll talk to ya when I get back Chuck."  
"Splendid. We'll be looking forward to both of your arrivals. Talk to you soon Logan," Xavier said with a slight smile.  
"Yea', talk to ya later," Logan replied as he hung up before Scott could start in again about his motorcycle. He glanced around then went over to the table and slid into the seat across from Catalyst, "So... what kind of a name is Catalyst?" He had used that same line on Rogue when he had found her.   
She smirked and shrugged, "I don't know, the kind that you're forced to pick up? You know, you look familiar...."   
He looked at her when she said that, the look in his eyes making her glance away for a moment, "Really? Why's that?"  
She looked back to him, "I dunno... How exactly did you find the compound on the Lake? They don't exactly advertise the location."  
He smirked slightly, "I noticed... Mr. High and Mighty tried to give me the 3rd degree on trespassing. "  
Catalyst snickered slightly, "That sounds like something John'd do. He's been after me twice now, and he just keeps getting more and more full of himself."  
Logan thought about that, "So you knew all those guys? Where'd they come from?"   
She looked at him again as the waitress came to the table, "I'll have some coffee, and some eggs."   
"What about you doll? What ya want?" The waitress asked, looking at Logan, obviously trying to flirt through visual contact with him.  
"I'll have a beer and some chicken," Logan said, ignoring the flirtatious looks and watched the girl.   
After the waitress left, a bit red from being shot down, Catalyst looked back to Logan, "Sorry about that, but I don't like to talk about stuff like that with other people around. We all came from a military base about 10 miles north of where the Lake is."  
"And how didja know about the base? What kinda base are ya from?" Logan asked, hoping that he didn't sound too nosy; he just wanted some damn answers that might lead to who he was.   
She looked at him, chewing her lip slightly, not sure how much she should tell him. She glanced around, then looked to the table, "I grew up for a few years at the base at Alkali Lake, when I was little, before it was destroyed by a person that wanted out. The base that we're from isn't too much unlike it; it was built after the one at the Lake was destroyed, to replace it. It's pretty much a prison for people like me... and you I assume. It's a mutant experimentation lab." She grew silent quickly, staring at the table as her fingers rubbed her right wrist gently.  
Logan froze as he watched her explain the base, flashes of his past racing in his head. He sat quietly for several moments, thinking that he might have actually found something on his trip that was worth it, a person that had actually been there at the lab. Finally, after she shifted in discomfort at the silence he looked at her wrist and took it gently, though she tugged slightly away out of reflex. He looked at the dark bar code-type tattoo that covered her wrist, along with the number 711766, "So you were one of the lab-rats too?" She nodded silently, looking up at him as he gently released her as he nodded slightly, sitting back in his seat.   



	3. Chance Meeting

Chapter 3  
Logan watched the girl as she walked into the hotel room slowly, looking around. She set her bag against the wall by the couch as she walked around a bit, taking in all the details of the room and nodded slightly to herself, "Not a bad room."  
Logan nodded and shut the door behind them, "Sorry 'bout the size, I didn't exactly plan ta stay with someone." He smirked slightly to himself, thinking that with his last trip, when he found Rogue, maybe he should have expected it.   
Catalyst had remained silent for the most part during the rest of the time that they spent at the Bar & Grill. He now knew that she too had been a lab-rat to the same people that had taken what life he had before he went there and replaced it with false memories and an adamantium skeleton.   
Adria smirked slightly and nodded, "Well, I didn't exactly plan to get outta the lab any time soon, so looks like we're even. You never did answer my question, how did you know about the base at the Lake?"   
Logan looked at her as he put his own bag on the bed, "I, uh, was lookin' for some answers."  
Catalyst plopped onto the couch and pulled her hair out of the ponytail, "Oh really? What kinda answers?"   
Logan sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing the space between his two first knuckles on his right hand, "I was at the lab on Alkali Lake too... about 15 years ago. And when I went there, I lost all knowledge of who I was."  
Catalyst froze, watching him, "You're him... I shoulda known, with the claws. You're Wolverine, aren't you?"   
Logan looked up at her immediately as the girl stood up from the couch and took a slight step back, his eyes narrowing, "How did you know that?" He looked down at where his dogtags would be, thinking that maybe she had read it off of them, but then remembered that he had given them to Rogue to hold onto until he got back. He stood, looking back up at her, definitely interested in who she was now.  
Catalyst took another slight step back as he stood, "I-I just remember you from when you were there, with us... You're the one that escaped, and when you did, you destroyed the base."  
Logan didn't advance towards her, as he watched her back up again, "So, ya know who I am? Do you know anything else about me?"   
She looked at him, chewing her lower lip gently, "I know who you are... I also know some things about you, your family, and what happened to you."  
He watched her, as she seemed to get even more nervous as she spoke, as though she was talking about something that was forbidden. "It's alright kid, I ain't gonna hurt ya... you may actually be able ta help me, it seems you can tell me exactly what I came here looking for in the first place... What family?" The last part hit him oddly, as he had always pictured himself more of a loner and not one to have a family of any kind.  
She finally stopped backing away and watched him, "That's what you came around for? Yea'... I don't know about any wives or anything, but I do know ya got one relative... a daughter, named Adria. I think she'd be around 23 by now."  
He looked at her, his mind racing with the news that he had a daughter, and an adult one by now. "Where would she be? What else do ya know?"   
Catalyst just shook her head, "I know a few things, but I was pretty young when I knew ya, about 5 years old at the time, seven at the most." She shifted a bit, obviously uncomfortable with how the conversation had turned, and Logan nodded slightly, "Alright kid... thanks for tellin' me."   
She nodded, letting out a soft sigh of relief at not being questioned further and stepped away from the wall that she had nearly backed into, "So, where are we goin'?"  
"I live at a school for mutants down in Westchester, New York... we're heading there, I think you'd be interested it in, it's a safe place to stay at least," Logan said as he watched her walk back to where he was, looking around a bit again.  
"Alright, that sounds good... the street can be pretty nasty, I would know... how didja guess that I was a mutant? If ya didn't know that I was at a mutant experimentation lab," she asked, with a slightly raised eyebrow, and an almost amused look on her face.  
"I kinda guessed it when you said that you were hard to hurt, like me. I'm a mutant too, so I guessed that ya had the rapid healing," Logan said as he looked at her, smirking lightly.  
She nodded slightly, "Good guess." Then she walked over to the couch again and plopped down once more, "Don't worry about sleeping arrangements, you take the bed. I'll be fine with the couch."  
Logan smiled slightly and nodded, "Alright kid...er, Catalyst. Hey, you never did tell me what your real name was, when I asked what kinda name Catalyst was."   
Adria smirked slightly as she untied her boots, pulling them off and stretched out on the couch, her head resting on one of her arms, "That's because I don't remember my name."  
Logan had a slight feeling that with the way she said it that she was lying, but before he could ask about it, she had closed her eyes and started to doze off, "Right... well, night kid." He changed out of his cloths and into sweats and a t-shirt and pulled off the top blanket from the bed. He couldn't stand sleeping with more then a sheet anyway and he walked over to where she slept and gently put the blanket over her. He then walked back to his bed, climbing in, and as he drifted to a dreamless sleep, muttered to himself, "Yep, I'm goin' soft..."   



End file.
